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| Chang Uc-chin's "Family" (1955) / Courtesy of MMCA |
By Park Han-sol
Modern Korean art master Chang Uc-chin's (1917-90) first family portrait, "Family" (1955), thought to have been missing for six decades after its last known sale to a Japanese collector in 1964, has been rediscovered by the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA).
The work will be unveiled in the upcoming exhibition, "The Most Honest Confession: Chang Ucchin Retrospective," which is slated to open on Sept. 14 at the national museum's Deoksugung branch.
"Family" has long been known as the painting that Chang, who produced over 30 family portraits during his lifetime, adored so much that he hung it by his bedside. It was also the first piece he ever sold during his debut show held at Bando Art Gallery, Korea's first commercial gallery, in 1964.
After selling it to Japanese collector Sadao Shiozawa, the artist reportedly recreated the work in 1972 and named it "Family Portrait," which is currently in the collection of Chang Ucchin Museum of Art in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province.
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| Chang Uc-chin's "Family Portrait" (1972) / Courtesy of Chang Ucchin Museum of Art |
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| Bae Won-jung, MMCA's curator behind the upcoming "The Most Honest Confession: Chang Ucchin Retrospective," looks at "Family" (1955) that she discovered during a trip to the late Japanese collector Sadao Shiozawa's old atelier on the outskirts of Osaka. Courtesy of MMCA |
During their trip to elder Shiozawa's old atelier on the outskirts of Osaka, Bae came across the small framed painting wedged inside a closet, hidden underneath layers of dust.
Following its discovery, the museum acquired the piece and added it to its permanent collection.
The painting features a rectangular house, occupied by Chang's family, as well as his other favored motifs: trees and birds. This is the only portrait ever created of Chang himself ― in lieu of his wife Lee Soon-kyung ― alongside his three children.
As it serves as a precursor to the artist's lifelong pursuit of producing family portraits, the piece holds high artistic and historical value, according to the national museum.
"I still have the memory of caressing the textured trees that my father painted when I was young. Seeing this painting again brings tears to my eyes," said Chang Kyeong-soo, the artist's eldest daughter and the director of the Chang Ucchin Foundation.
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